Yechury meets Sonia, discusses presidential election
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury too met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss the upcoming presidential elections and the need to field a joint opposition candidate. Nitish Kumar met Gandhi here on Thursday to discuss larger opposition unity to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in future elections, as well as the presidential polls. Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader K.C. Tyagi described the meeting as a “courtesy call” but also said that Gandhi should take a lead in forging opposition unity for the presidential polls scheduled in July.Mercury continues to soar in Delhi
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): The temperature in the national capital continued to soar further with the minimum recorded at 28.9 degrees Celsius, six notches above the season’s average, on Friday. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 43 degrees Celsius.
50 students hospitalised in Himachal
Shimla, April 21 (IANS): Over 50 students of the Jaypee University of Information Technology (JUIT) near here have been hospitalised following suspected food poisoning, a senior doctor said on Friday. After taking meals the students had developed restlessness, abdominal discomfort and generalised weakness. “They started coming to hospital in groups at around 2 a.m.,” he added. Their condition have started improving, he said.
Mamata re-elected TMC chairperson
Kolkata, April 21 (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Friday re-elected as the chairperson of the All India Trinmool Congress for six years. Trinmool Congress vice-president Mukul Roy made the announcement after the party’s organisational polls in the presence of Banerjee at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here.
10 killed as truck rams into shops
Vijayawada, April 21 (IANS): At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 injured when a truck rammed into shops in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district on Friday, police said. The speeding truck hit an electric pole before ramming into roadside shops on Puthalapattu-Naidupeta Road in Yerpadu, about 30 km from the temple town of Tirupati. Police said the accident occurred near Yerpadu police station when a group of persons who had come to the police station were standing near the shops.
Service charge in hotels not mandatory
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): Service charge in hotels and restaurants are “totally voluntary”, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday. According to an official from the Consumer Affairs Ministry, hotels cannot levy service charge in the bill and it will be the customer’s discretion weather to pay or not. It is only after the customers’ consent that a hotel can add the charge in the bill. If hotels defy the government decision, customers can approach consumer courts, the official added.
Woman commits suicide at Delhi metro station
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): A 22-year-old woman killed herself at a metro station here on Friday by jumping in front of a moving train, police said. “The lady jumped from platform number 2 towards Samaypur Badli at Ghitorni metro station around 10.40 am today (Friday) and died on the spot,” Delhi Metro DCP Jitendra Mani told IANS. The police are trying to identify her and are examining the CCTV footage.
HC dismisses AAP’s plea to use EVMs with VVPAT in civic polls
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the Aam Aadmi Party’s plea to use second-generation EVMs with paper trail in the April 23 civic polls in the national capital. The State Election Commission has opposed the plea, saying the petition was filed to stall the election. The Election Commission maintains that EVMs can’t be tampered with.
Two killed taking selfies in Bihar
Patna, April 21 (IANS): Two youths were killed on Friday while taking selfies when a train was going over a bridge in Bihar’s Katihar district, police said. A third youth saved himself by jumping into the river. Police said Samir Choudhary, Roshan Kumar and Bittu Paswan decided to take selfies on the Kosi Lal bridge when they saw a train approaching. The train hit Samir and Roshan, killing them instantly.
UP CM orders review of Yash Bharti Awards
Lucknow, April 21 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a review of the prestigious Yash Bharti Awards that were started by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. In a late Thursday night review of the work of the Culture Department, Adityanath asked officials to look into the list of awardees and fish out the names of non-deserving candidates. They were given to as many as 80 persons from different walks of life. The awards came under scrutiny after charges of favouritism and nepotism were levelled against the patrons.
SC to decide validity of linking Aadhaar with Pan card
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine the constitutional validity of the central government’s decision to link the Aadhaar card with the Pan card. Senior counsel Shyam Divan and Arvind Datar, appearing for the petitioners, including a former judge of Karnataka High Court, said it was extremely difficult to follow the rule as many people did not have an Aadhaar card. There was also constant mismatch of individual details in the two identity cards.
We can’t order UK to return Kohinoor: SC
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Friday said that it cannot pass an order to bring back the Kohinoor diamond which is in the possession of the United Kingdom or say that they should not auction it. Dismissing off the petition by the All India Human Rights and Social Justice seeking direction for bringing back the diamond, a bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar observed this. Disposing off the petition, the bench also said that it was satisfied with the government’s response that it was making efforts to get the diamond back.
